WEST HOLLYWOOD—On Tuesday, September 17, Ed Buck, 65, was charged with one felony count each for battery causing serious injury, administering methamphetamine, and maintain a drug house from his West Hollywood apartment. 

The Los Angeles County District’s Attorney’s Office indicated in a press release that Buck injected a 37 year-old man, known only as “John Doe,” with methamphetamines at Buck’s apartment located on the 1200 block of Laurel Avenue on September 11. The man allegedly refused aid by Buck and left to call 911 from a gas station. The victim suffered an overdose, but survived.

This is not the first time Buck has been accused of preying on male companions. On July 27, 2017, Gemmel Moore, 26, was found dead in Buck’s home. One email showed Buck sent Moore an airplane ticket to travel from Houston, Texas to Los Angeles, the day before his death. Moore’s death was ruled an accidental methamphetamine overdose by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. Insufficient evidence allowed Buck to be deemed not responsible for Moore’s death which prompted Moore’s mother, LaTisha Nixon to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Buck. Moore’s mother filed the lawsuit after finding her son’s journal where he highlighted his addiction and cited Buck as the person who turned him onto methamphetamines. One journal entry read:

“I honestly don’t know what to do I’ve become addicted to drugs and the worst one at that, Ed Buck is the one to thank he gave me my first injection of chrystal meth it was very painful but after all the troubles I became addicted to the pain and fetish/fantasy.”

Nixon spoke to the West Hollywood City Council in August 2017 where she said, “We have a lot of victims that have came forward. We have more information, but we need immunity for these people because some of the charges by them testifying could be felonies. I should not even been here before you guys. I feel if the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Department did a thorough investigation. ”

“I am asking for justice for my son,” Nixon added. “Ed Buck needs to be stopped. He needs some help, he needs to be stopped.”

In a Facebook post on January 8, 2019 Nixon wrote, “I had no idea my baby was dealing with so much hurt and pain. Ed Buck must be convicted he will not stop he will continue to hurt and kill black men. There are 2 people now that have lost their lives..#justice4gemmel.”

On January 7, 2019, another African American male was found dead at Buck’s home. Per Brenda Shafer of the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, Timothy Dean, 55, was found in Buck’s living room alongside sex toys, mirrors, and folded mens underwear. Buck’s refrigerator contained a bottle of Naloxone, which is used to block the effects of opioids. Also found was  a bottle of Caverject, used as an injection in the penis to make it hard, and a box of Alprostadil/Papaverine, used to obtain erections.

Dean’s body had a silicone circular sheath wrapped around the base of his penis and a rubber ring around his scrotum. Dean’s death was ruled accidental by Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department in March 2019.

Prosecutors indicated police found “hundreds of photographs in Buck’s home of several men in compromising positions.” Los Angeles County District Attorney, Jackie Lacey called Buck a “violent, dangerous sexual predator” and recommended bail bet set $4 Million. Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey also stated:

“I remain deeply concerned for the safety of people whose life circumstances may make them more vulnerable to criminal predators,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said. “With this new evidence, I authorized the filing of criminal charges against Ed Buck.”

Buck is known for fundraising for Democratic candidates such as Hillary Clinton, Ted Lieu, and Pete Aguilar, as well as California Governor Gavin Newsom. Buck, 64, was raised in Arizona, where he graduated from Phoenix College. At the age of 16, he came out as gay to his parents. He lived in Europe for a number of years and returned to the United States in 1980. Buck found success as an American political activist in 1987. He founded the Mecham Watchdog Committee in the attempt to fuel a campaign to impeach Evan Mecham, the Arizona governor at the time. Buck was arrested in 1983 for public sexual indecency in an adult bookstore.

Buck’s campaign against Mecham, a recognized homophobe, gained him recognition in the LGBTQ community. In 1989, he was named the Grand Marshal of the International Gay Rodeo in Arizona. In 1991, Buck moved to West Hollywood and attempted a run for City Council in 2007. He ran a successful campaign for a ban on fur sales that helped propel City Council member John D’Amico into office in 2011.

He is scheduled to be arraigned in court on Wednesday, September 18 in Department 30 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. If convicted, Buck faces a possible maximum sentence of 5 years and 8 months in state prison. 

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is still investigating the case.